Cooking at my apartment.

My blogging was so sparse last semester that I don't think I ever talked in depth about how I was doing with the cooking at my first apartment. Throughout the semester, I never stopped loving being able to prepare my own foods and go to the grocery store. It's one of my favorite things about apartment life. I never once opted to eat out to avoid cooking. 

I try to stay organized about my grocery shopping so that I don't grab the wrong things that I won't use, or certain components for recipes but not others. For example, if I don't go in with a plan, I might come out with 3 boxes of delicious cereal but no milk. 4 cucumbers for a salad, but no lettuce or dressing. Or, 3 bunches of lettuce that I'll never be able to eat before it goes bad. Peanut butter, but no jelly. You get the idea. So, I always make a grocery list. I sit down and plan out the meals that I'd like to have for the next week. I like to write the list in the order that I go through the store; usually starting with produce and ending in dairy. I methodically work my way through the store, crossing stuff off my list as I go (or deleting it from my phone). 

One of my favorite parts of grocery shopping is that I generally bring Alex with me. For the majority of last semester, we always went to the grocery store midday on Fridays (which we both had free from classes). Often times, we didn't spend time together all week until Friday, so it became our "thing." However, while I try to be methodical about my grocery shopping, Alex is the opposite. He likes to run all of the store in no particular order, as things come to mind. It drives me CRAZY! The supermarket is giant, so I inevitably have to chase him so I don't lose him, all while trying to maintain my composure and grab the things I need along the way, trying not to allow my organized system to be disrupted. It's equal parts frustrating and hysterical. 

Towards the beginning of the semester, I did several crockpot recipes; usually thick soups or stew-type meals. I still have some leftovers from those in my freezer. As the semester went on, I got very obsessed with roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli and started eating those everyday. Post-marathon, I started making goals to meet a daily protein quota, so I started finding fancy ways to fix eggs so it wouldn't get boring. I also began eating a lot of vanilla Greek yogurt with cereal. And of course, lots of nut butters :)

I haven't busted out the crockpot yet, but I did make blueberry muffins on Sunday night while watching Downton Abbey. 

My mom has been recently obsessed with the cookbook "Thug Kitchen." It's pretty hilarious; take one glance at their website and you'll see why.  Once you get past the language, there are tons of amazing recipes to choose from. AND all of the recipes are vegan! Many of them offer non-vegan substitutions, but even so, most of these recipes are very healthy. A lot of them even offer tips on where to find certain ingredients in the grocery store, which I find helpful, particularly for the more obscure things. 

I made a list of the "Thug" recipes that I thought I would enjoy most, and I'm hoping to try a few soon!

Chickpea Tabbouleh.

"Hoppin' John."

Sweet potato & chickpea wraps.

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I've been running about 30 minutes every day since getting to Oxford - all treadmill miles since it's usually dark in the mornings when I'm running, or just too cold. 

This morning I had the pleasure of having the fitness center to myself the entire time. Loved it.

I loved being able to run without feeling self-conscious - and setting the TV to the channel I wanted!

Hopefully next week I'll go up to doing some 40 and 50 minute runs!